Fully Devoted: CreationSample

God Saw All That He Had Made, and It Was Very Good Toward the end of the creation narrative, we’re told: > God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. ... Genesis 1:31 NIV Sadly, many people believe the lie that our world is so damaged that there’s no hope for a better tomorrow. For some, when they see all the hurt and horror of our current world, they assume it’s because God doesn’t care—or that God isn’t even here. That isn’t the picture the Bible gives us. The Bible tells us that God created everything and it was good . And God, who created this good world, has not given up. This broken world is why God chose to become a man who would be killed on a cross for the sins of this world. But He also rose from the dead, defeating the darkness of this sin-filled world. That’s how committed God is to restoring the goodness of His creation. As disciples of Jesus, we’ve been invited to be a part of God’s redemptive plan to rescue this world from sin, and restore creation. So the question to ask becomes: How do we play our part? By practicing the way of Jesus. In Jesus, we were shown what it truly means to be human—He didn’t introduce a new way of being human, He showed us the true way of being human. When we dedicate our lives to the ways and words of Jesus, we become the people who can fulfill our purpose of partnering with God. What would change if we actually took the teachings and example of Jesus seriously? What if we saw Jesus as the template we’re meant to model our lives after? What would be different if we learned to love God with all that we are and truly started loving others the same way Jesus loves us? Things would begin to change in significant ways. At the end of Jesus’ time on earth, shortly after ascending into heaven, we’re told in Acts 1:15 that there were about 120 believers. That’s it. But there was something special about this small group of Jesus followers—they had hope . They believed that the future would be better and brighter than the past because of Jesus. And they knew that, as His disciples, they had a part to play in making that future a reality. So, they committed themselves to practicing the ways of Jesus. Over the course of the next 300 years, that group of 120 believers would grow to approximately 30 million Christians, becoming the  largest religious group in the Roman Empire—the same empire that had crucified the one they later called King. Journaling Questions * Do you believe that the future can be better and brighter than the past? Why or why not? * What do you think it means to practice the way of Jesus? * What are some things that would change in your life if you took the example of Jesus seriously? Memory Verse > For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 NIV